LIMA — “This plant matters to our national defense,” Sen. Sherrod Brown said prior to touring the Joint Systems Manufacturing Center Thursday. “It matters to western Ohio. It matters for employment. It matters for national security. So I will always be on board and working with (JSMC) Commander (Travis) Adkins and the whole plant, the UAW workers, that keep this place going efficiently.”

But while Brown has consistently worked to secure funding for the JSMC, President Donald Trump has already taken credit for the federal dollars. Two months prior, Trump led a tank plant rally with: “You better love me. I kept this place open.”

“Thanks is not enough. It’s got to be way beyond thanks,” Sen. Sherrod Brown said. “He can take credit. I don’t care.

“I’m glad the president agrees with Sen. (Rob) Portman and me that this is important to our national security. And it’s clear it is. So of course he’s going to say that, and we expect him to continue to support our efforts to not just keep this place open, but to make sure that the JSMC is strong and the funding is there, and we continue with the work that they do.”